Thread by @TerenceKnott1

Hi Mark,
We had at the height of the “Troubles”, thousands of troops in the Province (the in-word for N Ireland); plus thousands more of local troops and police, all armed. We had helicopters, sensors, armoured cars - I was responsible for County Fermanagh and I had 1,000 men 1/4

https://twitter.com/markpalexander/status/1165597811150397440

plus armoured cars and two helicopters outside my fortified base at Inniskillen.
In spite of all our 24/7 efforts and hard won intelligence, we barely kept the lid on. The locals crossed the border, whenever and wherever they liked, as we strove to intercept them.
If we 2/4

sealed the crossings, they used a bulldozer and made another one.
Smuggling was rife and some houses and barns deliberately built to straddle the border!
To “control it” needs hundreds, if not thousands of border force police/ troops. The current Army and Royal Marines cannot 3/4

supply these, especially if they are - hrrmm - providing security/ military force, on mainland U.K. against our own people.
To give an idea of scale, the border has approx 343 crossings and, if stretched out, would be equivalent to EU eastern border ‼️
‘Nuff said 4/4
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